Holiday Photo Journal Part Two – Tonga

Day 8 – Arriving and starting to explore

After an early morning flight and taxi ride, I arrived in the capital Nuku’alofa and checked into my accommodation (pictured below left). Following a snack, I headed out towards the waterfront (pictured below right) to explore a little and procure some groceries.

My main observations as I started to explore were the dogs, pigs and chickens which roamed the streets; the either very different from what I was used to or simply not obeyed road rules; and the friendliness of locals, most of whom said hi to me as I passed, especially local kids.  

Groceries were available at roadside stalls and in small shops. Roadside stalls sold a variety of fresh local produce – yams, bananas, papayas, coconuts, watermelons, chillies and more. Shops sold selections of highly processed imports, often products of Australia, New Zealand or China.

Day 9 – Exploring and learning

I met up with another retreat participant already in Tonga for brunch at Friends Café and Tourist Centre (pictured below left). We then explored the Langafonua Handicraft Centre and Gallery (pictured below right) and the Talamahu Market, where I purchased a few souvenirs. We went to the post office to write some cards and send them home to Australia, then onto the Tongan National Museum where we learnt about Tongan watercraft, tapa cloth production and printing using stencils, kava bowls and ceremonies, weaving and other handicrafts, and the royal family. As the only visitors in the Museum at the time, we were able to ask questions directly of the young woman working there, enriching the experience.

On my way back to my accommodation, I organised a bespoke tour of Tongatapu, the main island, for the following day, then settled in for a quiet afternoon/evening.

Day 10 – Touring Tongatapu and meeting with the retreat group

My driver, guide and the guide’s three-year-old daughter (on preschool holidays) collected me from my accommodation and we headed first for the western side of the island where we visited Tsunami Rock and Mapu’a Vaea/the Blowholes. We then headed for the eastern side where we visited and Anahulu Cave, Paepae a Tele’a/the Terraced Tombs and Maka Fa’akinanga/Ha’amonga ‘a Maui Trilithon (pictured in order below).

In the afternoon, I walked through a different part of Nuku’alofa to what I’d explored previously returning to my accommodation to meet with the rest of the retreat group when they arrived. We shared dinner at Friends Café and Tourist Centre where I had a fresh coconut to drink, the first of many over the course of the trip.

Day 11 – The journey to Uoleva

In the morning, I showed a couple of people from the retreat group around some of Nuku’alofa and a group of us had lunch at the Waterfront Lodge. Then, we headed for the airport to get our flight to the Ha’apai island group. The domestic terminal had no security screening, you could wait for your flight outside and boarding passes were handwritten by airline staff. From the three seats per row plane, we had beautiful views down to Tonga’s many islands and reefs.

Having retrieved our luggage, we took a quick taxi ride to the wharf, then loaded ourselves and our luggage into the boat to transfer us across to Uoleva, the small sandy island where the retreat would be based. We were excited to see humpback whales from the boat. We took our shoes off, disembarked onto the beach and walked the last few hundred metres to the retreat. Unable to resist, I jumped into the water for a swim pretty much as soon as we arrived. Once we’d sorted out rooms for the night, we had dinner, sang a couple of Sanskrit songs and turned in for the night.

The falé I stayed in was right by the beach. It took a matter of steps to get from there to the beach. With a roof but no walls around the falé’s main area, I slept under a mosquito net and listened to the waves and wind in the trees as I went to sleep each night. Through a door out the back was the bathroom. I showered beside young palm trees onto the sand, screened by a wooden barrier.

Days 12 to 17 – Retreat

Days 12 to 15 were each relatively similar. Each day started with a sound meditation at 6.30am, followed by silent personal time from 7.15am through to 8am when breakfast was served. I generally used this silent personal time to do a mindful walk on the beach or go for my first swim of the day. After breakfast, we generally had free time until 10am. For me, this was generally snorkelling time. From 10-11.30am, we generally sang, starting with exercises to warm up our voices and loosen us up, then learning a few songs. After a quick break for a cuppa, we’d then move into asana practice from 11.45am through until lunch at 1pm. After lunch each day, we did a yoga nidra meditation then had silent free time through until around 5 or 5.30pm when we’d meet for a sharing circle. I filled my afternoon free time easily with snorkelling, journalling and reading. Following the sharing circle, we’d then have dinner and do a meditation before bed.

On days 16 and 17, we spent from 9am through until around 4pm out on the water in a small boat, searching for whales to swim with, after starting the day with meditation, some silent personal time and breakfast. On the first day, the weather was quite rough. While we saw several whales and two groups of us did get into the water, we unfortunately didn’t manage to swim with the whales. On day two, however, conditions were much more favourable and we had a wonderful local woman with about fifteen years’ experience as our guide. As a result, we had several amazing whale encounters both in the water with them and from the boat. I swam within five metres of a mother humpback and her baby three times, heard whale song under the water, was on the boat when a mother and baby whale came right up beside us and dived under the boat, and watched from the roof of the boat as a group of male whales competed to see who could make the biggest splash from a breach. On the first day we had free time until dinner; on the second we had free time until 5.30pm when we met for a final sharing circle. On both days, I used the free time to go for a snorkel. On our last night, we had a bonfire on the beach and the resort staff sang, danced and fire-twirled for us. We then headed for bed ahead of an early morning flight the next day.

Times above are approximate, many things including the kitchen ran on ‘island time’. Photos below give you a tiny slice of life on Uoleva.

Day 18 – The journey from Uoleva

Our flight back to the main island of Tongatapu was leaving at 8.20am, so we had to be up super early to get packed up and catch our boat and taxi back to the airport on the main island of Ha’apai from where our flight was departing. To farewell Uoleva, I went for a quick swim under the stars. From the boat back to the main island, I saw two whales and a rainbow formed over Uoleva as it receded into the distance.

Once we were back in Nuku’alofa, I ran a few errands, including dropping in on my tour guide from the week before to organise for her to transfer me to the airport for my flight out of Tonga that evening. Some of us shared lunch at the Waterfront Lodge then, tired after an early start, we headed for hotel rooms to rest the afternoon away. I didn’t have one but a friend from the retreat thankfully was happy for me to hang around in his. We walked back and grabbed an ice cream on the way as it was a very sticky hot day.

At around 5.30pm, we ventured out into a mercifully much cooler late afternoon for an early dinner with two other friends from the retreat before I then headed off to the airport. While I left Tonga and faced the end of my holiday reluctantly, I also left having had some amazing experiences and made many special memories and connections.

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Keep an eye out for some more reflective posts about the trip.

Love, hope and peace from Emma.